The Tánaiste says the current Level 5 Covid 19 restrictions can’t be eased as case numbers are still too high.
It comes as NPHET warns the government there could be as many as 1,000 deaths from the virus this month.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan wrote to the Minister for Health last week to say optimistic projections will still see between 800 and 1,600 new cases a day at the end of January.
Leo Varadkar has told the Dáil that it’s too unsafe to lift restrictions under these circumstances;
“We’re still seeing more than 2,000 cases per day” he said. “More than 200 people are in ICU, with about 2,000 in our hospitals. Things are starting to fall slightly in terms of cases and hospitalisations, but not at the pace we would like.”
Kilkenny’s Chamber of Commerce President Colin Ahern says the news is “disappointing but not surprising”.
“I think everyone has been expecting this, the numbers are not coming down as fast as we’d like them to,” he told KCLR News. “But it’s still obviously very disappointing for everyone.”
